PROCESSING: THE AP G: THE APPRAISAL
One of the most crucial steps in the lending process is the lender’s appraisal of the property. This is where the lender will determine whether or not the house is worth the amount of money they are going to lend to the borrower.
Let me warn you upfront: the appraisal process can be a wild ride.
The lender orders the appraisal. It could take a week, two weeks, or even three to get the appraisal back - typically one week. This is usually not because of the lender, but because appraisal companies utilize a more complicated system than in the past. It used to be that an appraiser would stop by your house and walk through it for an hour or so. Now, things are much more complicated. The reason for the complication is because the lender has to protect its investment. It is investing in both the home as a financial asset and in the borrower as a client. A smart lender will not loan hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to someone without properly vetting every single aspect of the borrower and the property. While this long appraisal process is happening, a good loan officer or lender will not wait for the appraisal to come back. The good loan officer moves ahead, completing as much of the loan package as possible and submitting it to underwriting. We’ll go over underwriting in the next subsection, but it’s important to note that your loan officer should not be sitting around waiting during the appraisal. There is plenty to do! When the appraisal comes back, your agent should review it to make sure there are not any issues. They need to ensure the value is good and that the property was appraised appropriately. They’ll
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